KDH Model Seder

Pesach Pillows

As part of our inclusive philosophy at IJP we encourage our parents and grandparents to visit often as surprise readers, Shabbat party guests, and to lend their expertise and talents to our class. We also encourage them to give us their input as to what interests their children so that our explorations can be child directed.

What started as an email conversation between AmaraLia’s grandmother and me evolved into an exciting Pesach project. Mary Najmaister was sharing with me the art and sewing projects that she planned to do with AmaraLia. Embroidery, weaving and all art projects are fantastic ways to improve fine motor skills and broaden a child’s horizon.

We talked about possible projects for the class. Mary suggested embroidery. I suggested a pillow. The conversation went back and forth…. We designed a pillow together. Mary purchased all the supplies and drew the design and wording on twill material. Mary came in a few times and showed the children how to embroider. She then sewed up the pillows.

We are all very excited by how much the children enjoyed embroidering and how well they did.  We are already planning our next project.

Thank you, Mary, for your kindness and generosity!

Chag Sameach!

Morah Ruth

Movin' On Up (On the Playground)

As the year progresses, the children in Kitah Alef Bet are becoming older, gaining new skills, and growing in all areas.

More and more, we see the children venturing to the higher sections of the playground. They are curious about the monkey bars and eager to use the double swings with their friends.

We visited the large ship at the top of the playground together as a class earlier in the year. As the year goes on, and the children continue to grow, we will climb on that structure more and more.

The Matzah Man

This week we read the book The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland. In my reading, I used a paper puppet of the main character. The children were so interested in the puppet, they suggested we make our own "matzah man" puppets.

We used real pieces of matzah to make rubbings and get a real matzah-like texture. The children were also offered bubble wrap, cardboard, and other materials to make rubbings and create visual texture on their matzah man puppets.

When the puppets were finished, the children could be overheard reciting lines from the book and acting it out with each other.

 It was great seeing how many different ways the children discovered to add texture to their "Matzah Man," and how the puppet really brought the story to life for them.

Sensory Experience: Flour + Water

With the visit from the Matzah Factory last week, we noticed how much the children enjoyed handling the flour and water. Building upon that enjoyment, the teachers in Kitah Gimmel created an enriching outdoor play invitation- the sensory bin filled with whole wheat flour, set atop a platform.

In half groups, the children approached the flour bin, first relishing the feel of the dry texture as they combed their fingers through it. Next, the teacher added water, transforming the experience into something gooey and playful. The squeals and singing of the children as they churn the flour and water together are evidence of the deep enjoyment of this sensory play.

As with typical Reggio-inspired activities, this is not about reaching a predetermined end, but about what can be gained along the journey. Children learn the properties of flour and water- what can it do? What can't it do? As they are busy at work, they are also making connections. Perhaps the goop reminds them of a song, a rhyme, an experience, or another substance that shares its qualities.

The teacher creates a visually pleasing invitation, and the learning emerges from the child's actions upon the materials. As they press, squeeze, and mix the sticky goop, we can observe the experimenting and predicting that is taking place, good mind skills that we want children to develop.

Pesach in the Dramatic Play Center

What was different in the KDH classroom this week? The children noticed the Purim objects were gone. They found Pesach items around the room in all the centers. The seder plates/kearot and kiddush cups in the dramatic play proved to be the most interesting to them. The children put out the seder plates and cups and searched through the food in the kitchen to fill the seder plate. They found celery for Karpas, an egg, and looked for more. We made a zeroah/bone, charoset, chazeret/lettuce and maror with other found objects. We brought a small table into the room and covered it with beautiful cloth and the children are enacting the seder with three matzot and lots of wine cups. The Pesach excitement is palpable in KDH...

Morah Ruth

Matzah Bakery

We came in this morning and King Paroh was walking around  in IJP.” What are you doing here, King  Paroh?”  “Oh I brought along the Matzah Man.  We are going to get ready for Pesach.”

KDH could hardly wait until the back room was set up. King Paroh asked, “Why do we eat Matzah on Pesach?” Benjamin answered, “The Jews did not have time to make bread, so they had Matzah. Nessia added ,” They carried matzah on their backs, and their babies.”

The children all had a chance to make matzah from its start to finish. First we threshed the wheat. Then we took the kernels and ground them into flour. Next we mixed the flour with the water. Each child got dough and a rolling pin. When the dough was flat we made holes in the dough.  The children lined up with their unbaked matzah and they were put into the oven. When they were baked the children tasted their yummy matzah.

Thanks Matzah Man!

Threshing the wheat

Rolling out our Matzah

Baking our Matzah

Morah Ruth

  

Photo Essay: A Visit from the Matzah Factory!

A man dressed like Paroah told us the story of Passover, and why we eat matzah.

Look at all of the interesting tools and ingredients they brought: wheat stalks, flour, rolling pins, a wheat grinder

We sang Passover songs, including the "Mah Nishtanah"

Now for the fun part: Making our own matzah!

Special hats make everything better

There's more than one way to use a rolling pin!

Flour was flying.

Bringing matzah to the oven- Amitai shows us how it's done.

We learned more about where flour comes from, and even got to pick the wheat kernels off of stalks of wheat

Mmmm! Our crunchy creations were quite tasty.

Pesach and Shabbat: Similarities and Differences

A Pesach table and a Shabbat table- what do they share and what is unique about each?

 Every Friday is a special day in IJP as each of the three classes make a Shabbat Party. Across the classes, children are familiar with the customs of welcoming and celebrating Shabbat.

As Pesach approaches, we wondered, how is celebrating Shabbat different from celebrating this important Yom Tov?

The children look at two tables- one set for Shabbat, one for Pesach.

A Venn diagram is a great way to compare things, and notice areas in which they overlap. It is also a great vocabulary term! Making a Venn diagram is a handy strategy for learning, both when drawn by the teacher, and as they get older, the student.

Morah Goldie records the children's comments in diagram-form.

Venn diagram: Shabbat and Pesach

 In half groups, the children called out what is special about each holiday.

"We use a seder plate!" Eden recalled.

When speaking about the different items on the seder plate, Motty chimed in, "My mom likes maror!"

As we continued highlighting the special attributes of Pesach, Morah Estee presented illustrative cards of each of the four major differences. This segued perfectly into a recitation of "Mah Nishtanah," the four questions that are traditionally sung by the youngest member of the family on Seder night. In some families, every family member takes turns saying it.

The Four Questions

We are going to practice singing the mah nishtanah, especially the first part, and would love to sing it at our seders.

Making Grape Juice for Passover

The seder plate in our classroom

As we get ready for Passover, we have been learning about the different symbols we see at the Seder. Drinking four cups of wine (or grape juice, in our case), is one of the most important parts of the Seder. At Circle Time, we practiced counting to four, and showing four with our fingers.

We drink grape juice every Friday at Shabbat Party, but we wondered what it would be like to make our own grape juice.

Using this recipe as our guide, we began by plucking the grapes off of their stems. We counted as we went, placing the green and red seedless grapes into a colander.

 Once all of the grapes were in the colander, we rinsed them and put them in a bowl to mash.

 

We  started out using a potato masher, but it turns out grapes are much harder to mash than one might think!

 

So we put the grapes in plastic Ziploc bags and squeezed the grapes using our fingers. It was quite a workout for our fine motor muscles!

"I see the juice! It's coming out!" - Bryna

Freshly squeezed grape juice

The next step was cooking the grapes and juice (with a pinch of sugar), and then straining with a cheesecloth:

The finished product, ready to be chilled in the fridge.

The finished product was refreshing and perfect as an end-of-the-day treat. We can't wait to drink the four cups of grape juice on Passover!